Living the Dream

About Living the Dream

Living the Dream, a brand new comedy drama from the makers of Cold Feet, is coming to Sky 1 later this year. Starring Philip Glenister (Outcast, Mad Dogs) and Lesley Sharp (Scott & Bailey, Paranoid), the series has been created and written by Mick Ford (Single Father, The Five), produced by Big Talk Productions (Cold Feet, Mum, Rev.) and will be directed by Saul Metzstein (Doctor Who, You, Me and the Apocalypse) and Philippa Langdale (Dickensian, Skins).

The six part series follows a British family, the Pembertons – husband Mal (Glenister), wife Jen (Sharp) and their two teenage kids, Tina (Rosie Day) and Freddie (Brenock O’Connor) – who decide it’s time to leave rainy England and move to the sunshine state of Florida.

Mal’s bought an RV Park with plans for a booming family-run business, but it soon turns out that they are not going to be living the dream they hoped. Before they’ve even settled in, Mal discovers that the park is home to a group of eccentric residents who are not exactly thrilled to meet their new owners. Jen has to learn how to survive American suburbia and the kids have to navigate a US high school.

With culture clashes aplenty, life in Britain soon seems even further away than they’d thought it would. But with the support of each other and their crazy new friends, they begin to learn how to live the American dream.

Alongside Philip Glenister as Mal and Lesley Sharp as Jen, the series will also star Rosie Day (Prime Suspect 1973) as Mal and Jen’s teenage daughter Tina, Brenock O’Connor (Game of Thrones) as teenage son Freddie, Kim Fields (The Facts of Life) as their larger than life neighbour Rhoda, Kevin Nash (Magic Mike) as ex wrestler and park resident Troy, Leslie Jordan (Will & Grace) as busy-body, park resident Aiden, Paula Wilcox (Mount Pleasant) as Maureen and Jimmy Akingbola (Rev.) as Paul.

Philip Glenister said: “Really looking forward to making Living the Dream a reality! Along with a hugely talented cast and crew! Fire up my trailer park!”

Lesley Sharp commented: “This is an amazing opportunity to work on a warm and witty comedy drama with a great colleague Phil Glenister. It’s wonderful to be working with him again and the talented and inspired team at Big Talk.”

Adam MacDonald, director of Sky 1, said: “Living the Dream is going to be great fun – a sparky, funny comedy drama that both embraces and punctures the notion of living the great American dream. I can’t wait to see Phil, Lesley and the Big Talk gang take the Sky 1 viewers on an adventure of a lifetime.”

Luke Alkin, executive producer, Big Talk, added: “We’re delighted to bring Mick Ford’s exciting new series to Sky 1. There are nearly half a million Brits living the dream in Florida so it’s a fantastic setting for this bold, funny and heart-warming show.”

Living the Dream was commissioned by Sky 1’s channel director, Adam MacDonald and Jon Mountague, Sky’s head of comedy. It is created by Mick Ford and produced by James Dean (This Is Jinsy). Executive producers are Luke Alkin, Kenton Allen and Matthew Justice for Big Talk Productions alongside Simon Curtis (Women In Gold, My Week With Marilyn) and Mick Ford. Jacquetta May will write episode five. Saul Metzstein will direct episodes one, two and three and Philippa Langdale episodes four, five and six.

Filming on the series has begun recently in the US and it will be available on Sky 1 and online streaming service NOW TV later this year. WME is handling US rights and ITV Studios Global Entertainment is handling internationally.